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Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ice Cream

I've fallen in love with my ice cream maker and I don't even eat ice cream.But the homeboys do and plenty of it.

This new affection for my ice cream maker just started a few weeks ago. Up until this point my ice cream maker languished in the pantry. For years! Don't feel bad for it. It couldn't have been lonely. It had all the other small appliances such as, the toaster oven, the George Foreman grill, and the waffle maker keeping it company.

So, the other day I decided to rescue it. OK, so I didn't really release it from bondage or anything but I got it out and started using it. A lot!!

You see, we live in Phoenix, Arizona. It's hot in Phoenix. No, it's not just hot, it's broiling hot in Phoenix. Especially this time of year. And all you East Coast Southerners can just hush up because though we don't have 90 percent humidity we are in our monsoon season. Which means that we have temperatures of 110+ degrees and 50% humidity. Let me tell you that is plenty hot. (I'm done whining now, sorry)! With the heat comes the need for ice cream or other frozen deserts (according to JR frozen deserts are a food group along with beer and Frito's corn chips).

Back to the ice cream maker.This is the one I have. It's not expensive. $49.95 on the Cuisinart website but it makes great ice cream. They even offer some recipes so if you lose the user manual, like I have, you can figure out how to use it. If you haven't got one of these I say, "Go get one!"

I particularly like the basic vanilla ice cream recipe in the user manual. Page 4. It's a great jumping off point to making some really interesting combinations. Those of you who know me will certainly understand this statement. For those who don't, you just need to understand that I can't seem to leave well enough alone! I like to call it being creative.

1 cup whole milk, well chilled(2% and skim work just as well)3/4 cup granulated sugar2 cups heavy cream, well chilled1 – 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, to tasteIn a medium bowl, use a hand mixer or a whisk to combine the milk andgranulated sugar until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 – 2 minutes on lowspeed. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla to taste. Turn machine on,pour mixture into freezer bowl through ingredient spout and let mix untilthickened, about 25 – 30 minutes.